Sounds like your power supply might be having some issues. You could try rebuilding it but it would probably be better just to replace it. Check out our post on Checking And Replacing A Power Supply for more information. This post only goes over the smaller 15 amp power supplies. If you have a newer style (ATX) power supply, it should be a matter of just replacing the original with the new one and hooking up a couple of connectors to get it to work.

We have also featured your question on episode 24 of our Q&A podcast. Please listen to it for more of our thoughts on your question. Thank you for your question and keep us updated on your progress.

You’re exactly on the right track! If you can splice your marquee light wires into your cord from the wall, it should give you the 120 VAC that you require for your marquee light. Great job on troubleshooting!

We have also featured your question on episode 23 of our Q&A podcast. Please listen to it for more of our thoughts on your question. Thank you for your question and good luck with your repair.

In this particular video, the switching power supply was installed in the machine before we began working on it. If you take a look at the pinouts from MikesArcade (http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/spies.cgi?action=url&type=pinout&page=PlayChoice10.txt), you’ll see exactly where to put the voltage wires from your switching power supply. Looks like you’ll have to run voltage and grounds to both harnesses to get it working.

Just a note of advice, don’t go by wire colors. Your cabinets wire colors might be different than the cabinet we were using. If you still cannot figure it out after looking at the pinouts, send us a couple of pictures and we’ll try to help you further.

We have also featured your question on episode 22 of our Q&A podcast. Please listen to it for more of our thoughts on your question. Thank you for your question and keep us updated on your progress.

The location where you’re seeing the smoke is definitely the flyback. In order to repair this you will need to remove the chassis. Check out our post on Removing And Installing A Monitor Chassis for more information. Since this is a Nintendo cabinet, you more than likely have a Sanyo 20EZ monitor. We recommend replacing the flyback for sure. While you’re working on it, it’s probably a good idea to replace the HOT (Horizontal Output Transistor) and install a cap kit as well. We have a post on Installing A Cap Kit and a video on our Volume 2 DVD about replacing the HOT which you can buy from our online store. The parts can be obtained from arcadecup.com and Bob Roberts. If you do not feel comfortable doing these type of repairs yourself, you can always ship it off to Chad at arcadecup.com and he’ll repair it for a fee.

We have also featured your question on episode 22 of our Q&A podcast. Please listen to it for more of our thoughts on your question. Thank you for your question and good luck with your repair.

I have a DKJR and everything works fine except the marquee light. I know now that the outlet inside the game runs out at 100 vac. It appears that the light fixture has been replaced so the 100 vac will not power the light, I’m assuming that since the light fixture has been replaced it requires 120 vac. The light works fine if I plug directly into the wall so I know its functional.

So my question is: can I splice the power cable from the light fixture directly into the main power cord so that the monitor and the marquee lite at the same time?

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks for your help.

Mike

From what you described, it definitely sounds like a power issue. It could be either a monitor or a board issue. We would recommend checking the power at the harness of the Donkey Kong board first to see if it’s getting power. Please see our post on Checking A Classic Power Supply for more information. You will also need the pinouts for Donkey Kong to do this. These can be obtained from MikesArcade.com. Start off with this check and follow up by making sure your monitor is getting power as well. If everything is getting power then your monitor chassis or board could be bad.

We have also featured your question on episode 21 of our Q&A podcast. Please listen to it for more of our thoughts on your question. Thank you for your question and good luck with your repair.

Thanks, Tom